Robin Hawkes ⚡️

🐙 Visualisation at Octopus Energy
⚡️ Obsessed with maps and energy
📸 Photo-taker of Welsh mountains

✨ Creator of ViziCities
👨‍💻 Previously Wood Mackenzie & devrel at Mozilla

#Energy #RenewableEnergy #DataViz #Maps #GIS #Photography #WebGL #3D

Twitter: https://twitter.com/robhawkes
Blog: https://robinhawkes.com
GitHub: https://github.com/robhawkes
About: https://robinhawkes.com/about

Last Notes

2026-11-03 10:26:09 GMT

I may have fallen down a particularly niche rabbit hole over the weekend and made a thing that generates 3D models of all the varieties of electricity tower in Britain.
It's way over the top, like generating all the individual struts and bolts kind of over the top 🤓⚡
Massive credit due to Daniel Beardsmore and his specularly nerdy website and drawings of towers
https://telcontar.net/Power/pylons/
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/552/025/468/233/258/original/7eeebe78662a7e26.mp4

2026-10-30 09:27:30 GMT

A sneaky peak into something new I've been tinkering on in my free time 👀
I've wanted a semi-realistic way of representing data about energy and wind farms for a while now. And now I finally have it!
It's an interactive WebGL scene in a Web browser that you can move around in. Change the time of day, move clouds, make the sea stormy, etc.
The wind turbine and ship models are custom-made, that's been the most fun (and critical) part of all this.
Maybe it should be a game? That could be fun…
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/529/143/023/878/706/original/6e65040d08611d26.mp4

2026-10-26 14:17:46 GMT

How did the grid react as Storm Austen and Storm Boelo passed through over the weekend?
This is something I pulled together over the weekend. It's part of a new video format that I'm exploring to better explain what's going on within the energy system and the wider context surrounding it (such as the weather).
As always, a huge credit is due to all the open data sources that make these visuals possible. I've listed them all at the end of the video, please check them out.
(Much) More soon…
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/507/637/860/540/335/original/b89735cd063249b9.mp4

2026-10-25 09:00:37 GMT

Cumulative energy generation over the past few days as Storms Austen and Boelo pass through
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/500/728/479/681/632/original/c2acdcfc5a3cce2c.mp4

2026-10-15 12:51:09 GMT

Here's what grid-scale battery and hydro storage did over the past week…
As a follow-up to yesterday's post showing 🔵 import (charging) behaviour, I wanted to see how things would look with 🔴 export (discharging) shown as well.
Together they show how the storage assets are used to help balance the grid, nearly as if they are breathing in and out over time.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/445/011/913/416/115/original/8ce180893f63c8c8.mp4

2026-09-09 13:29:45 GMT

£25.3m spent yesterday turning on gas plants to replace wind energy in Scotland that couldn't be used due to grid constraints.
A further £3.3m was paid to the wind farms that were turned down.
I believe that's a record. NESO weren't lying when they said things would get a worse from September… 😬
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/241/320/364/828/659/original/e221d90fcb068125.png

2026-08-10 08:18:48 GMT

Northwest Europe's electricity network* visualised in Blender
*mostly…
It shows all the major high-voltage transmission lines, inter-connectors, power stations, wind farms, solar farms and more.
Colours show line voltage if available, and only power lines above 132 kV are visible unless they are offshore.
What other countries would you like to see?
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/117/070/227/732/507/690/original/a48bf4affabef2ee.png

2026-07-01 09:22:08 GMT

I'm hiring 👀🐙⚡
This is a rare opportunity to join the Data Visualisation team at Octopus Energy, the largest (and most exciting) energy supplier in Britain.
It's a tiny team with a big remit and an outsized impact. You'll be working directly alongside me to help shape how the public understands the energy transition.
You'll turn complex energy data into clear, compelling stories; working closely with senior leadership, marketing, policy, press and product teams.
https://jobs.lever.co/octoenergy/bc8c843f-5f07-4522-8da8-d27f0ceeed1b
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/843/984/078/641/349/original/5c6e6457bc4bf31c.mp4

2026-05-15 21:26:04 GMT

Burbo Bank this evening
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/580/702/887/284/020/original/a1a645661b2f5529.jpeg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/580/703/351/297/153/original/c840c8c95b462ed1.jpeg

2026-05-04 09:22:33 GMT

This is my grandad, he built the original R2-D2 for the first Star Wars film…
Jack was a master sheet metal worker, and was roped into using his skills on an obscure project to turn the sketches for the droid into something that could be constructed out of aluminium sheets.
I always knew he'd helped make part of R2-D2. However…
#MayThe4th #MayTheFouthBeWithYou #StarWars
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/515/571/798/421/486/original/541c7fcb03aa5c27.jpeg

2026-03-20 10:08:38 GMT

Internet person: "But this unsubstantiated datapoint about a heat pump that 'someone I know' / my plumber mate / [insert random third-party] says they're shit"
How about near-realtime data from every single of the real Cosy heat pumps installed by Octopus Energy?
That's what we've done with the Cosy Heat Pump Fleet Performance Dashboard.
https://octopus.energy/cosy-heat-pump-performance/

2026-03-18 08:23:26 GMT

The beautiful data views in SimCity (2013) directly inspired my early data visualisation work and are partly responsible for me picking it up as a career.
It's now 13 years since that game was released.
Back in the year 2000, a 13-year-old me would have had to wait another 13 years to play it. That's a lot of thirteens…
It wasn't my favourite in the series — the online-only launch was a shambles — but it was arguably the most influential of the SimCity games for me personally.
RIP Maxis 😢
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/249/210/895/240/108/original/0c2ec6e524a4261e.webp

2026-03-11 12:26:26 GMT

Uncovering the hidden patterns during the construction of Dogger Bank A, one of the world's largest offshore wind farms…
Like yesterday's animation, each cell in the grid shows a full month of construction, using AIS data from Kpler to follow every single vessel as they go about the installation and commissioning of the giant 1.2GW wind farm.
This time all vessel movement can be seen at once for each month, which suddenly shows all the hidden patterns and careful choreography.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/210/530/237/157/177/original/5b1c729a512bb094.png

2026-02-25 09:39:26 GMT

Who wants to play SpinCity? It's an offshore wind farm game I might be working on… 👀
The concept is a cute, simple game that anyone can play in-browser to get a better understanding of offshore wind farms from an economical perspective as well as a construction, operation and general "holy shit that's cool".
This idea has been on my backlog for years so it's exciting to be finally working on it. I've only been tinkering on it for a few hours but I'm quite pleased with where it is so far.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/130/602/021/434/465/original/bcc8dce45e4c9e62.mp4

2026-02-03 14:22:45 GMT

Turns out the electricity transmission network looks pretty cool when animated in Blender ⚡
The idea is the animation shows flow direction along each line, though right now the directions are completely made up until I get my head around PyPSA.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/007/145/057/844/760/original/c343c6f01bb9a043.mp4

2026-02-03 09:12:50 GMT

Here's a sneaky peak the next release of the GB Renewables Map, or should I say the GB Not Just a Renewables Map…
That's right, all types of power assets are coming to the map! Plus a whole bunch of other improvements.
It's been an absolutely massive piece of work that's sucked up most of my evenings and free time, but I'm very nearly there now.
And if you didn't already know, yup, this a hobby project I do for fun outside of my day job… because I'm weird like that.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/005/925/165/650/163/original/e0de70f55d962a78.mp4

2026-01-20 22:48:38 GMT

- reply

I'm 128x128 right now so that's perfect. If it's at all possible to make that go bigger (even if I have to poke the code) then that solves my next challenge.
And I'm not going to say no to that, I'd love to have a play. I'm actually about to buy some more panels as there's no chance I'm only having one of these displays in the house 😂

2026-01-20 21:54:47 GMT

- reply

Your work with i75 made my life a hell of a lot easier so thank you!
I'm really interested to see what happens with the new device I've seen rumblings about in the i75 repo as one of the limitations I'm hitting at the moment is I'd loooove to add more panels above to have a 2x3 setup. Hoping the new one will allow for custom layouts like that 🤞